


The Stars That Keep Us Apart

by YourLocalMixedRaceBisexual



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, F/M, I Tried, M/M, ish, not hunters AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:21:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22083298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YourLocalMixedRaceBisexual/pseuds/YourLocalMixedRaceBisexual
Summary: When John Winchester went missing, Dean and Sam set out to find him. This led them down a trail of betrayal and fear, and to the conclusion that their father was dead. With the help of old friends, and through meeting many more new ones, they moved on quite seamlessly. Dean unofficially adopted a teenaged girl. But the sudden change is catching up with Dean, and he finds he still can't cope without the people he's lost, despite the people he's found helping him.
Relationships: Bobby Singer/Mary Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Donna Hanscum/Jody Mills, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak
Kudos: 18





	1. We're Both New To This

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys  
> So, this is my first story here, and my first Supernatural fic, so bear with me, okay? I'll try to keep posting regularly and I'll try to keep the character canon-compliant. Please leave kudos and comments, they would help greatly!! Anyways, enjoy, I guess.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean is on his way home when he picks up a stray teenager, unwittingly welcoming her into his life

His funeral was short. Buried with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a peaceful smile on his face. Still, it was closed casket. Probably because of the Jack. No-one liked to see John Winchester drunk, especially not his sons, Sam and Dean. Neither could bring themselves to stay much longer than anyone else to say their goodbyes. John had already considered them dead when they left for college and a family, respectively, but they couldn't just not turn up, right? Not after... They just couldn't. 

Now, two years later, Dean was driving down a long stretch of road, humming along to the Metallica song on the radio in his ’67 Chevy Impala and smiling without a care in the world. The hot sun was reflecting off the cars shiny black hood, and Dean had the windows rolled down. He was only about an hour’s drive from his apartment in Lawrence, Kansas, but his mood was good so he pushed his Baby beyond the speed limit. Around him, wheat fields stretched towards the horizon, and a cool summer’s breeze blew in from the window. Dean smiled as the song ended and tuned the DJ out, focusing on his plan for the evening.

His train of thought was disrupted when he spotted a small figure standing at the side of the road. It became clearer as Dean drew closer, until he worked out that it was a teenaged girl with a mass of brown hair sticking out her thumb to hitch a ride. He slowed down and opened his passenger side door, letting the girl in.

“I’m Dean.” He introduced.

“Kaia.” She said.

“Where you headed? Anywhere I can take ya?” He asked.

“Probably.” She climbed in nervously. She had no luggage except a single, deflated rucksack hanging off one shoulder that she placed firmly between them on the bench. Her gaze remained on the scene outside, which was slowly become more urban than rural. The fuel light pinged on his dashboard, indicating his tank was nearly empty. He knew a gas station about two miles drive away, so he didn’t worry too much. He pulled in and filled his tank up.

“I’m goin’ to the store, want anythin’?” He knocked on her window. She shook her head. He shrugged and paid for the gas. In the store, he placed a few candy bars and a cherry pie in a basket and took them to the till.

“Hiya, Dean! How’s the day goin’?” The cashier, Alfie, cheerily queried. Dean glanced out of the window to his car, where Kaia was looking at her surroundings.

“I’m not quite sure yet, Alf. I’ll get back to ya on that one.” He responded, smiling. Alfie bagged his food with a quick “Sure!” and Dean paid.

Kaia kept feverishly peering around, as if looking for someone, and pulled her sleeves over her hands, but when Dean started strolling back to the car, she made a point of looking like she was staring into space.

“Watcha thinkin’ of, kiddo?” Dean shut his door and dropped his bag in the footwell behind her. She stayed silent. “Ok… Where exactly am I taking you?”

“Anywhere. Nowhere. I don’t mind.” She replied, still not looking at him.

“Right. Well, I’ve got a guest bedroom, so until you’ve figured someplace to stay, you’re welcome with me.” He offered. She turned to gaze at him. He appeared so… fatherly. Soft. Big-hearted.

“What’s the catch?” She whispered. They were on the road again, but this time driving slower as buildings rose up around them.

“You take care of yourself. Don’t think I have noticed how skinny or tired you are, Kaia. Okay? That’s the catch.” He said sincerely. She nodded and went back to studying outside. “Here,” He handed her the candy he bought, giving her a look when she started to refuse. They drove for ten more minutes in silence until Dean pulled into a carpark adjacent to a tall, grey apartment block. “Home sweet home.” He muttered, opening his doors. Kaia followed him into the lobby, where a smoking man was reading a newspaper from two days ago. They took the lift to level five, where the door opened to a long corridor lined with apartments.

“Which one’s yours?” She looked up at him and he strolled about halfway down before stopping and pulling out a key at number 555. He led her inside and she peered at her new surrounds, absorbing it.

“The kitchens through there, and this,” he opened a door which led to a room with a single bed, bookcase, wardrobe and desk. “This is your room, for now. I guess. I have to get the sheets from the cupboards, but, please, make yourself at home.” He stood in the doorway, watching her look around. The comfortable silence was broken by the sound of Dean’s ringtone, making them both jump. “Anyways, I’ll be back.” He answered the phone on the way to the cupboard.

“ _Hey, Dean!_ ” The voice on the other end said.

“Hey, Sammy, what’s up?” He replied.

_“Nothing, just calling to check in. You said you’d call me two hours ago. What happened?”_

“Something came up.” He yanked the bedsheets from the self and glanced back at Kaia, who was sat on the bed with her rucksack by her feet. “How’s work? Lockin’ away bad guys?”

_“Work’s good, I guess. I don’t really lock the bad guys away. I just prove them guilty or lessen their sentence.”_

“Ah, right. Gotcha. Anyways, now that you’re on, I have a question for you.” Dean hesitated in the hall. “What’s the legalities behind unofficially adopting a child? No, not like that, I mean like letting a homeless child stay in your guest room free of rent. Hypothetically.”

 _“Dean, that’s oddly specific. Are you okay?”_ Dean could feel Sam’s frown through the phone.

“Yeah, man. It’s just hypothetical.” He shrugged, wandering back to his guest bedroom.

 _“Well, its’ not technically illegal, but it’ll earn you a few funny looks. Why?”_ Sam responded.

“Come down here and you’ll find out, Sammy,” Dean said, hanging up the phone. “Here, I think these fit the bed.” He passed the sheets to Kaia, who nodded her thanks. He started walking off, then remembered something. “And here’s your key. My brother used to live here and had a lock fitted ‘cos I kept destroying his room when he was gone.” He smiled fondly, rummaging around for the key before producing it from between the cracks in the sofa.

“Why are you doing this?” She whispered, taking the key.

“Why are you running away?” He countered. “How old are you, Kaia?”

“16.”

“I’ll get you enrolled at the local school. I believe there’s still a semester left. You can start next week if you like.” He picked up his phone and began dialling, his back to Kaia as she did her sheets.

 _“Lawrence High reception, how can I help you?”_ A lady on the other end asked.

“Hi, my name is Dean Winchester. I’m looking about getting my friend enrolled in school here. She’s just moved in from Texas, but really, she’s been all over the country.” Dean replied.

_“Sure, what’s her name?”_

“Kaia,” He covered the mouthpiece and turned to her. “What’s your last name?”

“Nieves.”

“Kaia Nieves.” He turned to face the sink and heard the receptionist clicking away at the keys on her keyboard.

 _“Date of birth?”_ She stopped clacking for a moment. Dean looked back and mouthed the question to Kaia, who mouthed her reply and the grade she should be in, which Dean then passed onto the receptionist.

_“Ok, do you have any of her past grades?”_

“No, I do not. Are they necessary for getting her enrolled? I didn’t – I didn’t think they -” He paused whilst she answered him. “Oh, oh right. Okay. I see. Right. And, one last thing, is it possible for her to start next week?” He listened. “Awesome.” He replaced his phone.

“Well?” Kaia had finished her sheets and come to stand behind the counter.

“You’re in grade 12, and you start Monday next week. You’ll get your timetable and locker on your first day, and you’re taking Spanish and art, although you can change them within two weeks of joining. So that’s two weeks from next Monday. Don’t worry, my brother went to this school and they got him a scholarship to Stanford. He’s a lawyer now.” He looked down and began tapping buttons on his phone. “Now, how do I get off this screen?”

Kaia went and sat on her bed. “This is all going too fast.” She muttered, holding her head in her hands. She closed her eyes. _This is all going too fast._ She could hear Dean’s footsteps as he walked towards her, come practically feel the concern radiating off him. _This is all going too fast_. She could feel the roughness of the hand he placed on her shoulder through her thin t-shirt.

“Hey,” He whispered. Her eyes snapped open. “It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay. You hear? It’s gonna be fine.” He sat next to her and wrapped her in a warm hug, letting her cry on his shoulder.


	2. Shopping is my Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go shopping and Kaia meets someone new.

_“Daddy!” She screamed. Her golden brown hair was matted with blood and tears streamed down her face. Dean could do nothing but stare in horror. The robber yanked her head back and she cried out in pain._

_“NO!” He shouted, raising his hands. “You can take whatever you want, just don’t kill her. Please.” He could feel tears welling up in his eyes and spilling onto his cheeks, but still held his gaze on the robber. She could feel the cold metal of the gun against her temple._

_“Anything?” He asked. Dean nodded. The robber began listing things in the house and Dean put them in a bag. When he was done, the thief threw the little girl at Dean, and he enveloped her in a hug, holding her tightly. He could hear the gun go off, but was too late. He watched the life slip out of her eyes as the robber laughed in the background._

Dean jerked awake in a cold sweat, his sheets tangled at his feet. His alarm clock read 2:44 am. He shivered from the lasting effects of the dream. The moon shone through his open curtains and he sat up, ripping off his covers as he did so. It was still too early for a beer, so he wrapped himself in his bathrobe and made a coffee instead.

“You have bad dreams, too?” A voice spoke up from the table. Dean started, nearly spilling his coffee. Kaia had her hands cupped around her own cup of coffee, and she looked up at him through her messy hair.

“No, no. I, er, I just couldn’t sleep.” He lied.

“Yeah, and coffee’s gonna help?” She retorted.

“What about you then? Why are you up so early?” He snapped defensively. She flinched away, looking into her mug as if it had the answers to all life’s questions. “Sorry, I – I shouldn’t have said that. Are you okay?” She barely glanced up at him, refusing to talk, so he abandoned his coffee on the counter and retreated to his room. “Don’t stay up too long.”

It wasn’t long before she left her untouched mug on the table and went to her room.

~~~~

The smell of pancakes wafted through Kaia’s door the next morning when she woke up. She rubbed her eyes and threw on her hoodie over the t-shirt she was borrowing. After peeking through her door and putting on her jeans from yesterday, she shuffled through to the kitchen and sat at the table.

“Pancake?” Dean offered, producing a plate stacked with about ten pancakes.

“Are we gonna eat all them?” She yawned.

“Don’t worry. You need to eat anyway.” He put the plate between them and took the top one. She took the next, shrugging.

“What are you doing today?” She asked.

“We are going shopping.” He answered. “You need clothes.”

“No, I don’t!” Kaia protested, giving him an incredulous look.

“You’ve been here two days, you sleeping in my old t-shirt. Besides, I need to buy a gift. Eat.” They spent an hour digging through the large pile of pancakes (there was only eight), and then went to their respective rooms to get ready. Dean had only one bathroom, and liked to take his sweet time in there. Kaia had been waiting by the front door for half an hour before he emerged from the steaming bathroom, fully dressed.

“You brushed your teeth?” He asked.

“I don’t have a toothbrush.”

“I’ll put it on the list.”

“We have a list?” She muttered.

Neither of them mentioned their midnight meeting on the ride to the nearby shopping mall. Instead, they listened to a Led Zeppelin tape. The drive was only about 20 minutes to the edge of town, and was half-full by the time they got there. Dean took her to each shop, buying her clothes, décor for her room, a toothbrush and other necessities. Around midday, they stopped in the food court and he bought them lunch, too.

“How can you afford all this stuff?” Kaia looked at the burger, almost refusing to eat.

“Sammy puts ten dollars into my bank account every week. I find it amusing to use the same money he ‘gifted’ me to buy him a gift.” Dean shrugged, taking an enormous bite of his burger and glancing around. “Plus, I own a mechanics.”

“Why are you doing this?” She asked, her voice nearly a whisper. She was scrunched in on herself, slouching and staring at the burger like it had murdered her family. He paused, considering her question.

“You remind me of someone.” He placed his burger back on the wrapping and wiped his hands on the napkin. He didn’t remind her to eat, instead choosing to play with his phone. She slowly ate her lunch, leaving the tomatoes, and he polished his burger too.

“Where next?” She disposed of the leftover food and stood beside him as he surveyed their list.

“I don’t know. Do you need anything else?” Both their arms were laden with shopping bags, and Kaia shook her head.

“Well, then what do you buy a lawyer for is birthday?”

“Sounds like some crappy joke.” She muttered. Dean nodded his indifference. “A watch, maybe?”

“Where would I find that?”

“Seriously, you’ve lived here for how many years and you don’t know where you’d buy a watch? Follow me.” She dragged him down the crowd until they stood outside a jewellery store.

“Here? Seriously? I’m not buying him a necklace!” He protested.

“Just, trust me, ok?” She sighed. He rubbed his forehead and let her lead the way. “Right, it looks like, here they keep the earrings and necklaces, so here is the watches. Take your pick.” She had successfully and efficiently towed him through the crowd to the glass display case of watches.

“How may I help you?” The man behind the display with a black waistcoat asked. “Rolex? Or something more shiny? Michael Kors, perhaps, or Gucci?”

“Oh, nothin’ too fancy. I’m just looking for somethin’ for my brother, he turns 25 this weekend.” Dean replied.

“Oh, a birthday gift! I know just the thing!” The assistant raised the glass case, running his finger carefully down the watches until he procured a specific silver watch with shiny green jewels embedded around its face. “The jewels aren’t 24 carat, unfortunately, but maybe your brother will forgive you. He’s a lawyer, right?” His voice was as thick and smooth as velvet, almost hypnotising Dean and Kaia before a woman wearing a similar uniform appeared by his side.

“Hey, you know you’re not supposed to sell that watch! Besides, boss wants you in the back.” She joked. She looked back at them. “Sorry about him. How can I help?”

“Just a birthday watch for my little brother, is all.” Dean repeated, confused. She had a slight clip, almost, in her voice.

“Ah, what about this?” She held up a gold and silver watch with a square face. A small MK was branded on the clasp. “It’s going cheap, $75.” Dean considered the watch.

“Ok, where do I pay?” He asked, taking his card out of his wallet.

That evening, after Kaia had stored all her shopping in her room and Dean had wrapped Sam’s gift, they were sat on the sofa, watching a movie, when someone knocked on the door. Kaia looked up at the door, the cold fingers of fear enclosing her. The room seemed to get smaller and small noises got louder and the clock begun ticking faster and she started breathing heavier. Noticing this, Dean crouched in front of her, telling her to breathe, just breathe, it’ll be fine, he’ll protect her.

“You’re going to be ok. You understand me?” He said firmly, gripping her shoulders. She nodded. He gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze and went to the door. Kaia watched as he opened the door, but she couldn’t see who it was as Dean was blocking them from view.

“Dean!” A gruff voice cried, and trench-coat-clad arms enveloped him in a hug.

“Hey, Cas. What're you doin’?” Dean replied, hugging him back.

“You weren’t at your mechanic's, I thought…” The man – Cas – trailed off. “Who’s this?” He squinted at Kaia.

“Ah, Cas, meet Kaia. Kaia, Castiel.” Dean introduced, taking a step back. Castiel seemed to be joined to his hip since he entered the apartment. “This is why I took a week off, remember?” He whispered. There was something about the way Castiel looked at Dean, and how Dean reciprocated the glance that made Kaia think that, maybe… She quickly dusted off the thought and stood, holding out a trembling hand for Castiel to shake.

“Hi,” She muttered, avoiding eye contact as he accepted the handshake.

“Cas is an old friend of mine. He works in the FBI.” Dean said.

“Dean, I need your help. Jack’s gone again. He seems to be searching for something to… to bring her back.” Castiel turned from Kaia, and she immediately sat back on the sofa, her legs weak. But she didn’t take her eyes off this strange man, watching his every move.

“Dammit, Cas. How many times do I have to tell you! She’s gone, dead probably. Hopefully.” Dean stared angrily at Castiel as if it was his fault.

“I’m trying my hardest, Dean! I’ve still got Jimmy’s child, too, remember?” Castiel retorted. Dean sighed, rubbing his eyes.

“Son of a bitch.” He hummed to himself. “OK, here’s the plan. We’ll split up. I’ll take the North side of town, you take the South. Look in all the usual places.” He grabbed a map which had circles drawn on in various places of the city. “Kaia, are you all right to stay here until we get back?” She nodded fervently. He gave her a thumbs up and jammed his feet into his shoes. They left, and Kaia could hear Dean lock the door out of habit.

She folded her hands in her lap, left alone to her thoughts.


	3. Missing Boys and First Day Jitters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is found, Cas is pissed. Kaia goes to school.

After about two hours of mindless movies and flicking through paperback novels from Dean’s shelf, Kaia heard the front door open. She jumped and Dean’s voice filled the flat, calling out her name. Shuffling out of the kitchen, she went to greet him and saw a boy, about her age, stood behind him, humming to himself.

“Kaia, this is Jack, Cas’s nephew.” Dean hung up his jacket and clapped Jack on the back. Jack just raised his hand in greeting. Kaia nodded. “Cas hasn’t passed through, has he?”

“No. You’ve been gone for ages, though. Does he have a phone?” She replied.

“Yeah, I just call him real quick.” Dean disappeared into his bedroom, leaving Kaia alone with Jack.

“So, you’re Kaia.” Jack stated.

“Yeah, and you’re Jack.” She responded, sitting as far away from him as possible as he came and sat on the sofa. She nervously looked at her hands, picking at the skin around her nails. They sat awkwardly together until Dean came back out of hiding and told Jack he was taking him home.

“Cas is already on his way there. Claire will be waiting for you at the door.” Dean shoved his feet back into his shoes, grabbing his car keys. Jack stood and raised his hand once again, but this time in departure.

“Goodbye!” Dean closed the door, locking it again and leaving Kaia alone. He led Jack down the corridor and to the elevator, before taking him to the car park and getting in the Impala. The engine roared to life before settling down to a soft purr and Dean reversed out of the space.

“Jack, what were you thinking? You know there’s no way of knowing if she’s alive, or where she is, or even how to get there! You could have been hurt, or died! Cas and I, we just wouldn’t be able to live with that. We’ve seen too much death, you know that. Please don’t let us add you onto our increasing list of regret, ok? Cas was worried sick. Sam damn well near came down here himself to help look for you!” Dean lectured. Jack focused on his lap, avoiding Dean’s gaze.

“I’m sorry. I just… I feel so bad. It’s all my fault, I know. I just wanted to do something good, like you or Sam or Cas. I guess it kinda backfired.” He looked out to the road ahead. They were in the upper side of town, and suburban houses lined the street. Dean slowed to a stop and cut the engine.

“You don’t need to go finding my mom for that, Jack. You just need to look inside. Bad people don’t try to become good, remember that.” Dean turned to Jack, ruffling his hair and letting him out of the car, where a young girl with blonde hair tied up in vicious braiding was waiting on the stairs. Jack glanced at her.

“Cas is going to slaughter me, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, but you’ll survive. You’re tough, y’know. Besides, Claire will be there.” Dean nodded, resting an arm along the bench of the car. Jack swung open the door and stepped out, calmly walking towards his house. He glanced back at Dean before closing the door behind him.

~~~~

Cas had been driving his beige car, lovingly nicknamed the ‘Pimpmobile’, around the South of town for hours and Jack was nowhere. He was beginning to lose all hope when his phone rang. Sighing, he answered it.

“Dean, I can’t find him. I assume you rang because you can’t either.” Cas’ joy at Dean calling was outweighed by the crushing disappointment he felt as he was for being unable to find Jack. Dean’s news easily turned the tables, though.

“Cas! I found Jack. We headed back to my apartment, but you weren’t there, so we’ve started driving back to your place. Claire should be waiting for him there.” The smile could be heard in Deans’ voice.

Cas smiled gratefully, thanking Dean and telling him he’ll head that way too. He took a varying amount of twists and turns in an attempt to make it uptown back home, taking the impending traffic as an opportunity to ring Sam and inform him of the news. When Sam failed to pick up, Cas figured he was taking Dean’s call and put his phone away. He stopped at a red light and, drumming his fingers patiently on the wheel, glanced at his surroundings. A red Mustang pulled up next to him. Although outwardly he was calm, the nature of the car brought back unwelcome memories and he didn’t immediately go when the lights turned green, earning him a fair few amount of honks in his direction.

~~~~

Claire had just got back from school when she found a note taped to the fridge, saying Jack was missing, and Cas and Dean had gone to find him. She sighed and threw the note away, going up to her room and throwing her bag on her bed. Her phone buzzed in her back pocket. It was from Alex.

_Hey! Jody wants to know how ur doing. Please talk to her!_

Claire ignored Alex’s failed attempts at teen-speak and flung her phone onto her bed, falling into her desk chair and opening her laptop. She put on some loud music to drown out her thoughts and began her homework.

There were only a few instances where she paused, such as to get a drink or a snack, but in this instance, it was because she heard the familiar rumble of Deans’ Baby’s engine down the street. She ran down the stairs and through the front door to find Jack in the passenger seat and Dean talking to him. They didn’t take long, and she folded her arms across her chest as Jack got out of the car and sheepishly shuffled up the drive.

When he was safely inside, Claire closed the door and took him to the kitchen, pouring him a tall glass of orange juice and sitting across from him on the counter.

“What happened?” She asked softly.

“I thought… I thought I could find Mary, y’know?” He stared into his cup, avoiding her gaze. She gently lifted his chin up to look him in the eyes.

“You know the chances of her being alive after your father took her is very slim, don’t you, Jack. And I know you want to do good, believe me, I do! But sometimes, the only way to do good is to sit back and accept the facts. Then plan the future and trying to get by the best way we can. Helping others, being kind, which, y’know, you are.” She let go and stood, leaving him as she went to complete her homework and revision in her room.

Jack finished his juice, pondering her words. He didn’t leave after long, though. Claire could hear his door closing through her music, which she had turned down. Her phone buzzed with another text from Alex.

_Jody says theres going to be a new girl in one of your classes next week. Dean said to look out for her, shes called kaia._

Claire stared at her screen for a second before typing out a quick ok and pausing her music as Cas’s car pulled up in the driveway.

~~~~

Kaia heard Dean before she saw him, as she was reading one of his paperbacks on her bed, with the door closed. He called her name, rattling some drawers then knocking on her door.

“How d’you fancy Chinese for dinner?” She opened her door, still holding the book, but hiding it behind her leg. He spotted it and grabbed it out of her hands, a grin playing on his lips as she subtly flinched. “I remember this book! Dad used to read this to me when I was younger, to get me to sleep. Never really worked, though. You enjoying it?” He handed it back and surveyed the menu. She nodded, slightly shocked. The book was called Supernatural, and was about two best friends as they road-tripped across America, slaughtering monsters and falling in love. Kaia couldn’t believe Dean’s dad would read him it as a bedtime story, it was far from it. “So, egg fried rice and black bean sauce? Or thick noodles and prawn crackers?”

“I don’t… I don’t mind” She shrugged, putting the book on her dresser and shoving her hands in her pockets.

“Well, are you vegetarian?” He asked

“No.”

“I’ll order both, then. Fair?” She nodded. He noticed her hesitancy. “What’s wrong, Kaia?”

“Nothing. It’s stupid.” She replied.

“I mean, it’s probably not.”

“Well,” She sighed. “My dad always used to… tell me off for reading his books. But you… you didn’t.” She fidgeted with her fingers, not looking at him.

“How… how did he tell you off?” Dean whispered.

“He would… erm…” She swallowed nervously, feeling a bit sick. “He would, y’know, slap me or, um, pull my hair or something.” She could see the rage fill his eyes. “But its fine, he’d dead now! I killed him, he’s dead!” She blurted, then immediately covered her mouth in shock. _What have I done?!_ She thought. The murderous anger left his eyes and he brought her into a warm, comforting hug.

“Then you had the courage to do something I couldn’t.” He whispered.

~~~~

Dean parked the car in the school car park and turned to face Kaia.

“Do you know where you’re going? Mrs Smithton said she’d show you to your homeroom, then you’ll get your timetable and someone’ll show you ‘round, I think.” He passed her her bag from the back bench. She thanked him and opened her door, fidgeting nervously with her hands. He gave her a reassuring thumbs up and drove off, leaving her on the sidewalk. She glanced around. A lot of people had paused to admire the car, not paying much attention to her, so she quickly strode into the main building, using her hair to cover her face. Mrs Smithton was waiting for her by reception.

“Kaia Nieves?” She asked. Kaia nodded. “Follow me!” She was quite tall and cheery, with bright blonde hair piled up in a bun on the top of her head. She led Kaia down a few corridors and up a flight of stairs before stopping outside of room 102. “This is your homeroom. I assume you’ve been to school before?”

“Um, no, I was home-schooled.”

“Oh, well, this is where you’ll go every morning for registration in the morning and after lunch. Then immediately to lessons. Ok?” Mrs Smithton explained. Kaia nodded slightly and Mrs Smithton left her to enter the classroom alone.

All around her, students were entering and exiting different classrooms. Deciding she didn’t want to be the last one in, she slipped inside and took a seat close to the back, where she would be easy to overlook. However, the school didn’t want to make that easy for her, instead choosing to ask her to introduce herself to the rest of her classmates. All eyes turned to her as she slowly stood, looking at her hands, which were fiddling with the zipper on her hoodie.

“Hi, my name is Kaia.” She muttered, quickly sitting back down and wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans.

“Right guys!” Her teacher said. “A few messages.” He began reeling off messages, and Kaia tuned out until the bell rang and her teacher gave her her timetable. She joined the crowd, examining her timetable and looking at classroom numbers.

“What do you have first?” A girl asked. She had blonde hair flowing down her back up to her elbow and thick black eyeliner, making her cool blue eyes pop. “I’m Claire, by the way. Claire Novak.”

“Kaia.”

“So, what do you have first?”

“Um, maths in room 127.” She stared at the sheet, avoiding Claire’s eyes.

“I take you!” She said brightly, taking Kaia’s arm and guiding her down the foreign corridor. Claire’s backpack swung off one shoulder, bouncing on her leg. She was wearing grey jeans and a skin-tight black short-sleeved top. Kaia focused on these details to slow her heartbeat down and ignore the coolness coming from Claire’s iron grip on her arm.

The walk was short, only five minutes, but for Claire, it felt like an eternity. Almost as soon as she looked into those scared black eyes, she knew Kaia was special. Strong. A warrior. But also someone she should protect.

Outside the maths classroom, Claire paused, nervously biting her lip and fiddling with her ripped jeans.

“So, do you want to, like, I dunno, meet up for lunch or something today?” She asked. “Not, like, on a date or anything, but, like, as friends.” She added, hurriedly.

“Sure, but I won’t be much company.”

“Better than the friends I have now.” Claire joked, laughing slightly to ease the tension. Kaia chuckled, ducking her head. “Well, I’d, um, I’d better head off then. What do you have fourth period?”

“Oh, um, art. Room 403.” Kaia pointed to her timetable.

“Cool, I’ll meet you there.” Claire started strolling away. By now, most students had already gone in, and Kaia was left alone. She went into her classroom, avoiding stares and thinking, _I like Claire_.


	4. Sob Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaia and Dean swap stories

When Dean picked her up, Kaia had a small smile on her face.

“That good, huh?” Dean asked. Kaia just nodded, looking out of the window. It was quiet for a bit before Dean spoke again. “Hey, I’ve got some work to do at the mechanics for about an hour. You don’t mind if you have to come with me, do you?”

“No. I have some maths homework to do, anyway.” She shook her head.

“Oh, homework on the first day! That sucks.” They drove on in silence for a few minutes, Dean humming a tune to himself and Kaia daydreaming. The mechanics wasn’t far, no more than a half hours drive, but it seemed to go quicker for Kaia. _Time really does fly when you’re having fun, I guess,_ she thought.

When they got to the mechanics, a short man wearing a baseball cap was waiting outside.

“Hey, Bobby!” Dean greeted, stepping out of the car.

“Dean, the accountant’s waiting for you in your office,” Bobby said.

“Oh, er, this is Kaia. Could you please take her to the reception? Kaia, I’ll be about an hour, ‘kay?” Dean grabbed a few documents from the backseat of the car and ran inside. Kaia hadn’t even noticed he was wearing a sharp suit until then.

“Right this way, Kaia.” Bobby turned and walked towards the front door. “This is the reception, and Dean will probably meet you here once he’s done. He won’t be too long, but you’ll probably need something to do to pass the time, as it were.”

“It's fine, I’ve got homework.” She replied, picking at the skin around her fingers nervously. Bobby left silently and she dragged her heavy textbook out of her bag. It was old and tattered, and someone has drawn moustaches on all the stick figures in the diagrams, but she disregarded that and instead turned to page 299 to complete an exercise on calculus.

It didn’t take long for Dean to finish his meeting – or maybe Kaia was too engrossed in her work to notice – and soon they were both back in the Impala, driving towards Dean’s apartment.

“What was the meeting about?” Kaia wouldn’t have asked her father this, but she was learning every day that Dean was the furthest thing you could get from Kaia’s dad.

“Oh, nothin’. I’m just planning on expanding the business, y’know. Makin’ it a chain mechanics.” Dean responded lightly.

“That’s brilliant!” Kaia congratulated. “Where’re you expanding to?”

“Probably just the other side of town.” He shrugged, pulling into the car park and parking the Impala. The doors squeaked as they opened, and Dean winced. “She needs oiling. And she’s getting rusty. Probably needs a fresh coat of paint, too.” Kaia watched as he picked out non-existent faults with his car, running his hand down her glossy bonnet.

“Dean, there’s nothing wrong with Baby. She looks perfectly fine to me!” She piped up, pulling her bag out of the car and slamming the door shut. Dean was still examining the exterior when Kaia had reach the other side, forcing her to shout across the empty space. “Dean! The goddamned car is fine, trust me, okay?”

His eyes flicked up to her in surprise and he stopped scrubbing away an invisible mark. He made his way to her, barely glancing back at the car. Gruffly, he pushed the button for the elevator and ignored Kaia’s concerned staring. When the elevator arrived, she shrugged and joined the other few people, Dean shuffling in behind her. They both ignored the couple and the elevator remained silent until they left. Even after the doors closed, they didn’t talk much, just about dinner, and Dean reminding Kaia to do all her homework. The bad music filled the atmosphere and Kaia fiddled with her jacket zipper. With a ding, the doors opened and they stepped out to their hallway, the house keys jingling in Deans’ hand. It occurred to Kaia then that Castiel and Claire shared similar facial features, such as eye colour, face shape and even some mannerisms. And Claire turning up to help her certainly wasn’t coincidental.

“Dean, what’s Castiel’s last name?”

“He doesn’t have one, it’s just Cas.”

“Oh. Why?”

“Cas’s past is a bit… confusing. I’m assuming you met Claire Novak at school today?” Dean closed the door behind her and she nodded. “Well, Cas wasn’t born Cas. He was born Jimmy Novak. James, really. Gradually, though, he developed DID and created another personality, I guess, called Cas. Cas rarely manifested himself in Jimmy’s body. Well, Jimmy grew up, got married and had a daughter – Claire. 7 years later, Jimmy’s personality dies, or Cas permanently manifests himself in Jimmy’s body. I didn’t ask the details, Cas is still really hung up about it. Claire was really pissed off about it, Cas didn’t stick around with them. When her mom died eight years after that, she moved in with my friend Jody. Anyway, about last year-ish, she re-met Cas and decided he’d become less, I dunno – conservative? – and begun to like him. Now, they live together with Jimmy’s brother’s – Nick – child, Jack, who you’ve met. Claire’s still in touch with Jody and the other girls up in Sioux Falls where she stayed up until recently. But this stays between us, you hear?”

“Yeah,” Kaia headed to her room, knowing she’d rather Claire told her in her own time. She left her door slightly ajar, the sound of Dean’s humming as he moved around the kitchen comforting her, and dumped her bag on her desk.

Dean’s knock on her door startled Kaia out of her history textbooks.

“Hey, dinner’s ready,” Dean said, poking his head through the gap between the door and the frame. Kaia nodded and stood, following Dean to the kitchenette. “May I present to you: chilli con Carne.”

Two steaming plates were sat opposite one another on a small table cluttered with stacks of paperwork. Kaia took her seat and started on her meal as Dean bustled around the table, moving his work.

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout them. Becoming a chain is harder than I thought it would be. But at least Sammy will be here.” He muttered, sitting down. They ate in silence for a while before Dean spoke up. “So, seeing as you’re not going anywhere for a while, and if you’re ready to talk, what made you leave your old life? How did you end up hitch-hiking on a highway?”

“Well,” Kaia shrugged, putting down her fork. “My dad, mostly. When I was younger, my mom died, so it was just me and him, y’know. It was great, I loved it. Those are some of my favourite memories. But then, the hurt for Mom kicked in. We were both sad, we just… handled it different. He drank, I drew. As I grew up, I looked less and less like her, and he missed that he couldn’t look at me and see her. I don’t know if his brain was wired weird and… and wrong, somehow, or… I don’t know, but he didn’t like me growing up to look like him. I mean, it had always been there, y’know? Lurking under the surface of his calm demeanour. Well, when I was about 14, it really kicked in. He finally snapped, but I guess it's partly my fault, I got caught kissin’ another girl. My dad… didn’t like that. At all. I’d go to school with bruises and excuses of clumsiness, usually well-hidden so the teachers didn’t notice, and I started getting into some bad stuff. Like… drugs kinda bad. They kept me awake from the nightmares so I could get some work done in peace, rather than on edge, waiting for him to bust through my door and… and hit me.” She looked up at Dean to find he’d also stopped eating and was watching her intently. “One night, I’d had enough. He caught me stealing money from him for the drugs and tried to beat me near senseless. I pushed him away, he tripped over a stray beer bottle and smacked his head on the coffee table. He didn’t wake up. I climbed out of my bedroom window that evening with my rucksack and some money.” Kaia wasn’t sure when she’d started crying, but by the end her cheeks were damp. She wiped them roughly and started eating again, tugging down her sleeves and sniffing. “So, what’s your sob story?” Dean gave a harsh chuckle.

“Very similar actually, yeah. Mom died in a house fire when I was four and my brother was six months. Dad took us all over the country, we couldn’t settle and Dad couldn’t make enough money to feed his new drinking habit, me and Sam, and the rent-o-meter, so we were regularly kicked out. He would work late and leave early, sometimes going on trips, making me take care of Sammy. I practically raised that boy. Lived out of motels or my precious Baby, which was his back then. Dad was a Marine ‘fore he met my mother, so work was hard to come by. I helped the best way a child could. Lemonade stands, mowing lawns, cleaning cars. Sometimes I fixed the cars, Dad taught me to.

“As I got older, the jobs got… different. But Sammy was still my main priority. I had to look after him 24/7. Even when Dad was home. Especially when Dad was home, though Sam was the favourite. One night, while Dad was out, when I was six, I left Sam alone in the motel. The lot was empty, and I stayed close to the door, just playing some game or other on the stand outside. I didn’t stay out long, but when I came in someone had come in through the window and was picking Sammy up. I grabbed a rifle from the counter and pointed it at the man. I missed, but he still got the message and ran, without Sammy. When Dad found out, he was pissed. He didn’t look at me the same. Like every time he looked at me, he saw that night.

“Anyway, he was into hunting, and once Sammy was at Stanford, he did it more frequently. Like a coping mechanism, I guess. Well, we didn’t know that all of Mom’s ties were bad, and they came after him. He went missing, and when me and Sam looked for him, we discovered all them affiliations. I sent Sam back to Stanford and his girlfriend, Jess. I think he was planning to propose. When he got there, someone had… Someone had killed her and set the house on fire.” Dean stood abruptly and began pacing, muttering. “It’s all my fault. All my fault. It’s always my fault. Shouldn’t have dragged Sammy away. Should’ve left them together.”

“Hey, Dean? It’s fine. It’s alright, ok?” Kaia comforted, following him, reaching out to him and touching his arm gently. “If you’d left Sam, maybe he wouldn’t have made it out alive. Taking him with you, you didn’t know what else to do. It was all you could do. Your dad was missing.” She brought him down into a hug. He sniffed and wiped his nose.

“Anyway, Dad died in a car crash a year later, Sam’s a lawyer now and I met Cas ‘cos he was the FBI agent investigating all Mom’s past. And fast forward to today. I found a lot of people, lost a lot more, and opened a mechanics in my hometown.” Dean sat down in a rush and ate his chilli, avoiding Kaia’s gaze. She sat slower and was only halfway through her plate when Dean finished and washed his plate. “When you’re done, leave your plate in the sink, I’ll wash it. I just have too, er, go-” He was cut off by his phone ringing, piercing the silence. Roughly, he swiped a hand over his face and answered. Kaia carried on eating while all colour fell from Dean’s face. He started piling together papers and packing them away.

“What’s happening? What’re you doing?” Kaia asked, with her mouth full. Confusion was laced in her voice.

“We have to go. You need to go pack your bag. Pack everything you can.” He was still shuffling work, but paused to look in her eyes, pleading. She scrambled to her room and shoved some clothes and books in her rucksack.

Five minutes later, Dean was revving up the Impala and they were driving away.


	5. Sometimes the World is Out to Get You

Cas watched as the Impala pulled up his drive. The sun was just beginning to set behind its glossy body as Dean and Kaia stepped out and hurried up his steps.

“Dean, what’s happening?” Cas asked as they burst through the door. He was still wearing the trench coat and his dress shoes. Kaia looked around, clutching her rucksack to her chest.

“Has Sam rung?” Dean was pale and shaking slightly. Cas shook his head, worried. “He rang me. They got to his place. Ransacked it. I think they were looking for Jack. They’re going to my place next.”

“Dean?” Claire was on the stairs with Jack on the step behind her, both just as confused as each other. Their faces were reflected in the photos lining the stairway.

“Claire, Jack, go back upstairs.” Cas ordered, barely glancing at them.

“Kaia, you too.” Dean said. Kaia scurried up, following Claire and Jack as they walked into Claire’s room. It had three solid black walls and one dark purple wall, which had a single bed pushed up against it. One the far wall was a mirror, which was framed by photos of Claire and her friends. One was of a younger Claire, Jimmy and her mom. Kaia soaked up the room, turning to admire it. The setting sun cast an orange glow, glinting off the photographs.

“Kaia, what’s happening?” Claire asked. She and Jack were sat on her matching dark purple and black duvet and blanket, facing her.

“I… I don’t know. Dean… He wouldn’t tell me. He just got really pale and anxious and drove really fast.” She whispered, perching on Claire’s desk chair and placing her rucksack by her feet. Claire looked at Jack with a steely resolve in her eyes.

“Well, we better find out then.” Claire stood purposefully and strode to the door. Kaia and Jack followed her to the top of the stairs, where they sat and listened carefully.

“-Trashed his whole apartment. He was lucky he had to finish a case at work.” Dean’s voice was muffled, but clear.

“Did they leave a note to suggest what they were looking for?” Cas questioned.

“No, but Sam reckons it’s Jack. Y’know, because of Nick and his past, maybe? He thinks to gonna go to my place next, though.” Dean replied. They were talking with hushed voices in the kitchen, and the door was closed, so the Kaia, Claire and Jack moved from the top of the stairs and snuck to the foyer.

“Do you think it could be about Kaia?” Cas said so quietly they struggled to hear. _Why would it be about me?_ Kaia thought.

“What do you mean?” Dean asked. Jack and Claire turned to look at Kaia, who’d gone very pale and felt very confused. Cas’s deep rumble caused them to face the door again.

“Well, I searched the systems for her at work, or, more specifically, her dad. They came back with a bunch of jail times for drunk and disorderly, er, burglary, etc - and each time he was bailed out by the same anonymous person. The same anonymous person with this bank account Sam found.” Cas whispered. Jack and Claire glanced back at Kaia to find she’d gone back up to Claire’s room.

Softly, they padded up the stairs and stood in the doorway of Claire’s room. Jack left to entertain himself in his room, leaving Claire with Kaia. Secretly, she was glad. Kaia had shed her jacket and was stood facing the cold window opposite the bed. The sun had set and the stars were twinkling. The moon shone and lit Kaia up, highlighting a deep cut on her right forearm.

“Hey,” Claire stepped into her room, pulling on a loose thread in her sleeve. “Are you okay?” Kaia just nodded blankly.

“You know, I used to live in a neighborhood like this.”

“Did you? Was that with your dad?” Claire took another step.

“I’m not volatile, y’know. You can stop taking small steps. I’m not gonna explode.” She walked from the sill to the bed and sat in the dark. Claire sat next to her. “It was in a neighborhood like this that I got this.” She gestured to her scar.

“Hey, welcome to the club,” Claire chuckled humorlessly, pulling down her the collar of her black t-shirt. Just below her collarbone was a discoloured patch of skin, bearing an uncanny resemblance to a bite mark. “A few months back, these guys attacked me on my way home. One of them took a chunk of me as memorabilia, I guess. Cas and Dean ‘rescued’ me, obviously. But, yeah. Welcome. You’re not alone.” Kaia laughed. It was small, and short. But it still lit up her whole face as if it were a Christmas tree. Claire flicked on the light and passed Kaia her hoodie. “It’s cold. Come on,” Claire leaned back on her single bed, resting her head on the pillow. “Let’s talk.”

“About what?” Kaia watched her, still sitting, although visibly relaxed.

“Anything. You never been to a sleepover?”

“No.”

“Alright,” Claire propped up herself on her elbows. “I’ll start. Have you ever seen a pregnant pigeon?”

“No, but did you know pigeons were basically genetically engineered for human communication. Then, when Morse code or whatever was invented, they were released into the wild.”

“No, I didn’t. Cool. Erm, alright. Have you ever noticed how close Cas and Dean stand?”

“YES!” Kaia jumped up, giggling. “It was one of the first things I noticed when they were in a room together! They’re basically conjoined at the hip, aren’t they?”

“I know, right!” Claire sat up, laughing. “Do you think they like each other?”

“Oh, yeah. Definitely.” Kaia gasped. “We should set them up on a date!” Claire nodded in agreement.

“Hey, girls,” Dean knocked on their door. They took one look at him and Cas before breaking out in laughter. “What? Hey, I need you to focus. Kaia? Claire? Alright, then.” Confused, they left the girls laying on the floor, crying tears of joy. A few minutes later Dean and Cas came back. They stopped laughing.

“We need to talk to you. Kaia, specifically.” Cas said. The girls looked at each other and Kaia stood, nervously picking the skin around her nails, the happiness drained from her suddenly. “Claire can listen, too.” Cas came in and sat on the desk chair while Dean leaned against the door frame an folded his arms. Kaia sat next to Claire, who removed her legs from her bed.

“Kaia, do you remember anything… weird about your dad? I know this might sound strange.” Dean started.

“No, just the… well, you know. He went on a few business trips. For work, he said.” She replied. Dean nodded.

“Uh-huh. Business trips. Kaia what was your dad called?”

“John. Well, no. John was his middle name, but everyone called him that.” Kaia looked down at her cold hands. Something flickered in Dean’s eyes and Cas sent a cautionary glance his way before continuing the interrogation.

“What was his first name?”

“Gary, I think. Why?”

“Gary John Nieves.” Dean muttered to himself and scratched the back of his head, making a decision. When he came to a conclusion, he considered everyone in the room again. “Kaia, you’re gonna say here for a while. I’m gonna need to go, but you’ll be safe here, I promise.”

“Dean, what do you mean? What’s going on? What’s my dad got to do with this?” Kaia asked, frantic. Dean moved and knelt in front of her.

“Don’t worry. Cas and Jack are gonna come with me. Sam’s coming, too.” He said quietly, so only Kaia could hear. “Your dad had the same ties my mom had. I need to go now, ok?” Kaia realized that in the week and a half she’d been staying with Dean, she’d come to respect him like a brother, so she nodded and stayed on the bed. Dean glanced at Cas and they left together. Two minutes later they heard the Impala driving off. Kaia sighed and looked at Claire, who was staring at her hands.

“Hey, they’ll be alright.” Kaia took one of Claire’s hands in her own and squeezed it gently. She couldn’t help notice how warm they were compared to her own frozen ones. Claire looked up at her and sighed, grateful.

“Yeah. Yeah, they will.” She stood and glanced at the time, stretching. “Well, it’s only nine o’clock. What d’you wanna do?” Kaia shrugged. “TV?”

“Sure. I’ll grab some food.” Kaia stood and made her way into the kitchen. She searched the fridge and pantry for popcorn and other snacks, and eventually joined Claire on the couch. Netflix was open on the widescreen TV embedded in the wall.

“What do you want to watch?” Claire flicked through a couple of options, letting picture fill the top right corner before moving on, bored.

“Dunno. A movie?” Kaia yawned. “I’m pretty tired, though, so…” She shrugged and settled into the beige couch further, enjoying the feel of the warm blanket Claire had put on her and was subsequently sharing.

“How about this?” Claire selected a movie as Kaia’s eyelids drooped heavily. She managed to stay awake for the first half an hour, but the words and colours were all blurring together. The blanket was so warm, and she wasn’t sure what she was resting her head on, but it felt so comfortable, and eventually, she just let the dreamless escape drag her under.

Claire didn’t mind Kaia resting her head on her shoulder, she was starting to yawn herself. The movie wasn’t at all interesting, and she had turned the volume down when Kaia fell asleep. She wasn’t sure when Kaia had curled up into the foetal position, with her head on Claire’s lap, but it made her smile and, sleepily, she ran her fingers through Kaia’s soft, unruly mane. She knew she was still wearing eyeliner, and her hair would kill the next day from her tight braids, but she couldn’t move without waking Kaia. Besides, she looked so at peace, not worried or guarded at all.

~~~

Claire woke up at the first light of dawn. Somehow, she had ended up lying down with Kaia resting on top of her. Her head was nestled in the crook of Claire’s collarbone, where her bite mark was. Claire’s phone read 4:00 am, so she left Kaia to sleep and headed through the dimly-lit corridor to the bathroom.

The shiny bathroom mirror reflected a half-awake teenaged girl with black eyeliner smudged around her eyes, covering the bags, and her blonde hair tangled. She washed her face with warm soapy water, then shuffled up to her room to put on some more comfortable clothing. Jack’s door was slightly ajar and she could see all the blankets pushed to the foot of his bed, just how he leaves it every morning. She chuckled to herself and went into her bedroom. An old t-shirt was laying on the floor next to her bed and she scooped it up, swiftly taking off her top and pants.

It was still quiet downstairs when Claire entered the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, greedily gulping it until it was half empty. She wandered into the living room, still tired but unsure as to whether to sleep on the couch again or back in her cold bed. Kaia seemed so comfortable and had curled the blankets around her, and Claire imagined she wouldn’t give them up without a sleepy fight, so she decided to steal away to her bedroom and slide under her cool covers.

~~~

The soft rumble of the Impala’s engine filled the silence between Cas, Dean and Jack as they drove through the night, wide-awake despite the time. The stars were fading and the light was beginning to shine, neither men had had a wink of sleep, although Jack frequently napped in the back seat. Cas squinted thoughtfully into the burning sunrise ahead of them.

“Cas, why would they come after Kaia?” Dean asked.

“Well, because, technically, maybe, if her father was their ‘property’, then, inherently, she’s their ‘property’, too, and you just stole her from them. Possibly.” Cas responded, keeping his eyes focused on the sunrise. Dean nodded as Cas turned on the radio and pushed in Dean's Lad Zeppelin tape. The music then joined the engines’ purr in filling the silence.

“What’s the plan, then? Will Sam meet us there?” Jack asked, breaking the silence.

“Yeah. We’re gonna stop at a nearby motel, grab a few winks and head out to scout the warehouse I found about two weeks ago, remember? We’ll probably get there by sunset.” Dean was interrupted by his phone pinging. “Sam’s just got there. He’s gonna get us our rooms.” He glanced sideways at Cas’s profile and waited for him to respond. He stayed silent.

The hours passed like this, conversation few and far between, the silence stretching out like the road in front of them. They stopped at a Gas-N-Sip en route and bought a few snacks and lunch, but they all seemed to like the silence better than anything else. As the hype of the hunt died a death, Cas and Dean took turns behind the wheel, allowing the other person to have short, half-an-hour naps. The hot summer sun beat down on them and the cars they saw in passing. All they could see was endless blue sky and the highway. The food was slowly being diminished by Dean and Jack, much to the annoyance of Cas, and it seemed like the day would never end.

Eventually, after the tenth rerun of Deans’ tape, the motel rose over the edge of the horizon. The neon lights and the lack of any nearby buildings caused it to stick out like a sore thumb. The excitement and anxiety of the hunt filled Deans’ stomach and he sat up straighter. Cas pulled into the car park and Sam came out of room 96 on the second floor. Jack was, momentarily, blissfully unaware they had arrived as he was sleeping in the back. The sun had already set, and stars were twinkling in the cool evening. Sam shivered as he watched the Impala park and ran down to it with the two extra keys he’d bought. Dean and Cas climbed out of the car and Sam handed them the keys.

“Ah, second-floor keys! Being a lawyer is paying off!” Dean remarked, examining his key and looking for the door. Sam chuckled and shrugged.

“All the other rooms were taken, I couldn’t find four consecutive rooms next to each other, so we’ve all been split up,” Sam explained. Dean bounded up the stairs and unlocked his room. Cas and Sam stood, watching him in amusement. “So, I’ve heard Dean’s ‘adopted’ a teenaged girl. How’s that going?”

“Well. She gets on well with Claire. Dean appears fond of her.” Cas replied, his voice extra gravelly do to the lack of talking on the journey.

“She’s that same age Emma would be,” Sam stated, examining the hood of the car in a display of uncanny resemblance to Dean. He ran his finger along the body before giving Cas a tight smile and heading to the back door of the car. Sam opened Jack’s door and woke him. He rubbed his eyes, groggy with sleep.

“Sam!” Jack cried, hugging his makeshift uncle. They walked off together, catching up with one another. Cas took his duffel bag out of the boot and locked the car, walking quietly to Dean’s room. He sighed and knocked on Dean’s door, the keys jingling in his hand. When Dean answered, he had already taken off his jacket and was standing in his socks.

“Here are your car keys, your bags are in the boot.” Cas held out his hand and dropped the keys into Dean’s outstretched palm.

“Thanks, Cas. Hey, what’s your room number?” Dean stepped onto the walkway and faced Cas.

“99. You need your shoes.” Cas responded and walked to his room, leaving Dean looking between his feet and the car, debating the distance and whether or not it was worth it to put his shoes on. He soon shrugged and ran to his car barefoot. As Cas passed Sam’s room, Sam poked his head out of the door.

“Cas, can I talk to you for a sec?” He asked and disappeared into his room. Cas glanced longingly at his room door, wishing he could just shower and change before anything else happened that night.

“Yes, Sam?” Cas said once he entered, closing the door behind him. Jack was sat on the bed, examining the wall.

“So, get this,” Sam’s wall was papered with images and string joining them to newspaper clippings and one another. “Your brother, Nick, is the boss, and he’s the reason Mom’s gone, right? Well, if they are being kept in that warehouse, then it should be easy to, well, rescue them, as it were. So, this is the plan.”

“Shouldn’t we discuss this with Dean?” Jack said at the same time Cas said, “When have we ever had a plan?”

“I’ll fill Dean in later, and Cas, we’ve had plans,” Sam responded, frowning.

“They’ve never worked, though, have they,” Jack stated.

“Hey, it worked when we got you, remember?” Sam snapped. Cas shrugged, reluctantly agreeing. Jack sighed as Dean opened the door, holding a half-eaten sandwich.

“What’s happenin’?” He asked with his mouth full. Cas went to sit next to Jack, rolling his eyes, and Sam groaned. Jack stifled his laughter. “What?!”

“Dean, we’ve talked about you talking with your mouth full. Could you not?” Sam said, gesturing to his sandwich. Dean just shrugged and shut the door. “So, this is the plan,” Sam told the rest of them what had been cooking in his brain for the past three hours. “Any questions?” He asked when he was finished, clasping his hands in front of himself.

“What am I to do in all this?” Jack questioned. Sam glanced at him before looking to Cas and Dean. “Wait, no, I’m not… Really? I’m the bait?”

“We set off at the first light of dawn,” Sam responded, looking at Jack apologetically. They dispersed to their own rooms. Dean had a shower and clambered onto the hard motel mattress. Sam examined his wall before kicking off his shoes and going to bed. Cas stared at his phone for a long while, until he finally worked up the nerve to text Claire and go to sleep. Jack lay on his bed in the dark until sleep overtook him. Morning could not have come quicker for them.


	6. Bad Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire meets someone from Kaia's past, and Kaia meets the Wayward daughters!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've not posted for a while, I had technical issues. Anyway, here's a Kaia-and-Claire-centric chapter, enjoy!

Kaia woke to find the sunlight streaming in through the curtain after a hazy dawn. The smell of burning toast wafted in from the kitchen, and she coughed a little. Smoke drifted into the living room as Claire came in, wearing the oversized t-shirt she slept in, and opened the window. She turned to face Kaia brightly.

“Morning.” Claire nodded, standing with her hands on her hips. Kaia rubbed her eyes, still sleepy.

“What time is it?” She grumbled.

“About half six. Early enough for us to fix some breakfast and get ready for school today.” Claire replied, heading back to the kitchen. Kaia discarded the blanket and followed her. All the windows were open and the smell of burnt toast choked the air. Claire glanced back at her, grinning. Her golden hair glinted in the sun, giving her a halo. Kaia smiled weakly back. The worry for Dean and the others was back and stronger now in the morning light. Claire didn’t seem anxious, so Kaia tried her best not to be either.

“Any word?” Kaia perched on a stool at their island. Claire turned back and shoved two slices of bread into the toaster, adjusting the settings.

“No word. They’re probably still on the road. They’ll be fine.” Claire responded. “If you want to grab a shower whilst I have breakfast, the bathroom on the second door on your left. There should be some towels in a cupboard next to the bath.” Kaia nodded gratefully and went to Claire’s room. She pulled a fresh pair of clothes out of her rucksack and shuffled into the bathroom. The hot water was enough to fully wake her up, and she spent no more than fifteen minutes in the shower before drying off and getting dressed.

When Kaia returned to the kitchen, Claire was washing her plate and the smell of burning had gone.

“I’m gonna have a quick shower. Cereal’s in that cupboard, bread’s over there.” Claire stated, pointing to different places in the kitchen before disappearing upstairs.

“Ok, but what about bowls?” Kaia muttered, rummaging around in different cupboards and pulling the milk out of the fridge. She sat in a bleary silence, slowly chewing her cereal and thinking. She thought back to a week and a half ago when Dean picked her up from the highway, and how much more different her life would have been if he hadn’t. If Dean was right, she’d probably be dead by now. Like her dad. She wondered if Dean was alright and if her dad did have bad connections as if he’d been in a gang and she hadn’t known. She also realised she’d left her art pieces in her bedroom in the apartment. She was pulling on her Converse when Claire bounded down the stairs with her rucksack.

“It’s 7.25. We’re right on time. The bus will be here in five minutes. Let’s go!” She said, opening the door. Kaia followed her out and waited at the bottom of the stairs while she locked the door. Already, the sun was beating down hot and Kaia regretted pulling on her hoodie. The bus stop was a few minutes’ walk away, but they had elected to run as they’d spotted the school bus rounded the corner. They reach the stop at the same time as the bus. “Brill!” Claire panted as the doors opened. They clambered on and Claire showed her bus pass. Kaia looked at the other students, who were throwing pieces of paper and chatting loudly.

“Morning, dear,” The bus driver said. “And who’s your friend? Has she got a bus pass?”

“This is Keira, ma’am. She’s new, so she doesn’t have a bus pass. She doesn’t normally get the bus.” Claire explained.

“Oh, that’s alright. If she’s a friend of yours, I’m sure she’ll be just fine. You go on, now.” The doors closed behind them and they moved to find two seats next to each other.

“Why did you tell her my name was Keira?” Kaia asked once they were sat down. 

“Well, I don’t really know her that well, she could be anyone. Work for anyone.” Claire whispered, shrugging. “What do you have first?”

“Art. Although I left my sketchbook back at the apartment. You?” She responded.

“Computer Science. Do you need your sketchbook?” Claire frowned.

“No, I’m working on a canvas piece.” Kaia leaned her head back. The bus was hot and stuffy, and her hands were sweating. Her focus was snatched by Claire’s phone ringing. The caller ID read Jody.

“Hey, Jody.” Claire answered, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

“ _Hey, Claire. How are you?_ ” The voice – Jody – on the other end said. She sounded cheery.

“I’m alright.”

“ _Alex said she texted you last night._ ”

“Yeah, and the day before that, and the day before that. In fact, she’s texted me every day of this week.” Claire shrugged, sounding annoyed. Kaia yawned, tuning out the conversation and turning to look out of the window. They passed a man dressed in all black and wearing a jacket with the hood pulled over his face. He was focused intently on the school bus. Kaia tapped Claire on the arm and gestured to the man. Claire glanced outside and then back to Kaia, moving the phone from her ear. “That’s just Jerry, he’s a bit weird.” She explained in a hushed tone, biting her lip slightly. Jody’s voice brought the phone back to her ear and Kaia let her mind drift off. She didn’t think about Jerry throughout the morning, breezing through double art, and then history, until lunch came.

As usual, Kaia and Claire met up outside the library. Claire had got there first and was pacing just next to the door. She turned to Kaia as soon as she saw her.

“So, y’know Jerry?” She muttered as they started walking.

“Who?” Kaia asked, following.

“Jerry, y’know, the weirdo from this morning?” Claire murmured, desperate. Kaia though for a moment before nodding.

“What about him?” They passed into the cafeteria and grabbed a tray each.

“Well, something was niggling at me. I was forgetting something, and I couldn’t figure out what until last period.” They each picked up the hot plates and put them on their trays, ignoring everyone around them. “ _Jerry was already on the bus._ That wasn’t him. Someone else was watching the bus.” Claire hissed. Kaia nearly dropped her food.

“What?!” She whispered. They paid and sat at a secluded table near the back of the canteen. “Are you telling me the guys who want to kill Jack are _still here_?"

“No, they would’ve seen the Impala leave town, with Jack inside.” Claire replied, leaning forward. “There’re not here for Jack.”

“So Cas was right.” It wasn’t a question, but a whispered realisation. Claire nodded, pushing her food around her plate idly. “What do we do?”

“I’m not sure… Do you know if they’ve been to Dean’s apartment yet?”

“No, I don’t have a key, Dean always picks me up from school.” Kaia regretted the words as soon as she said them, they sounded babyish. Then she wondered why she’d thought that when there were clearly more pressing matters at hand.

“That’s fine, I can pick the lock.” Claire mentioned offhandedly. Kaia did a double-take.

“What?!” She sputtered.

“Hey, Cas works for the FBI, and they do some pretty shady stuff, believe you me.”

“So, he taught you?” Kaia calmed a bit, relaxing into her chair.

“Nope, Jack Googled it and taught me.” Claire chuckled. Kaia shook her head in disbelief and laughed with her. “Yep, always wanted to be like his Uncle Sam.” Claire turned slightly bitter, lost in her own world.

“Hey, what’s up?” Kaia asked quietly, gently nudging Claire.

She heaved a sigh. “Nothing, I guess, just some old grudges. All been ironed out, though. Okay, we'll catch a bus to your place after school, cool?” Claire planned. Kaia nodded.

"Meet you outside the library, I guess." She finished her food and picked up her tray.

"I guess." Claire muttered.

~~~

The bus pulled up at the stop next to Dean’s apartment block. Claire and Kaia stood and followed several other people off the bus. They passed the lobbyist and pushed the button to call the elevator. Claire kept an eye out for suspicious figures whilst Kaia impatiently drummed her fingers on her thigh. The lift dinged and they both stepped inside. Kaia pressed the button leading to the apartments’ floor, and started humming and bopping her head. They were alone in the elevator, so only Claire could look at her strangely. “What are you doing?”

“Sorry, miss put Silent Night on during art today as a joke.” Kaia apologised, shaking her head.

“Silent Night as in the Christmas song Silent Night? In April?” Claire asked doubtfully. Kaia nodded and chuckled. The lift stopped and the doors opened, revealing an empty corridor lined with numbered doors. Kaia led Claire halfway down and pointed to Dean’s door. Claire knelt at the lock and brought out her instruments while Kaia kept watch. The door at the far end of the corridor opened in the same instance that the lock clicked. They slipped inside before Mrs O’Leary from the end of the corridor noticed them. Kaia flicked the light on, illuminating a surprisingly tidy living room leading to two equally tidy bedrooms and a kitchen.

“Ok… So they’ve either not come yet, or they cleared up after their raid.” Kaia said.

“Or, they’re not coming here at all.” Claire responded, heading further in.

“Or, they were waiting for us to come in so we’re cornered. Which would make sense, because there’s not as many hiding places here as there are at your house. And, they obviously know that we’re together – well, not ‘together’ like _dating_ , but, anyway. They know we’re together and have probably been following us since this morning.” Kaia ranted, pacing the length of the small room. Claire stopped her by forcing her hands onto Kaia’s shoulders.

“Calm down! That’s not gonna happen. You know why? We’ve got this under control. That’s why. I’m gonna call Jody and have her take us to Sioux Falls by tonight, then tomorrow she can ring school and tell them we’re ill, she’s listed as my emergency contact. One of them, anyway. Let’s go back to my place and we can pack our bags. Do you need anything from your room? Clothes? Books? Anything?”

Kaia nodded and piled her bed with everything she needed, including books, her A2 art folder, clothes and underwear. The only thing she didn’t have was a bag to transport it all in. She could hear Claire phoning Jody again and making arrangements to pick them both up from Dean’s apartment.

“Think, think. Where would Dean keep a duffel bag? Does he even have two duffel bags?” She asked herself, remembering him taking one to Cas’s. Claire was leaning against the doorway, watching her tap her fingers together and mutter.

“Do you often talk to yourself?” She chuckled.

“Only when there’s no other intelligent company about.” Kaia shot back, grinning.

“If you’re looking for a bag, you might find one in Dean’s wardrobe or the linen cupboard.” Claire straightened, smiling. “I dibs cupboard.” She ran to the wall, leaving Kaia to search through Dean’s wardrobe.

Kaia had never been in Dean’s room, but didn’t have high hopes for how well-kept it was. Even so, she was let down. Take-out cups and wrappers were strewn on the floor, as were underwear, jackets, t-shirts, socks, anything that seem too small for him, Dean threw on the floor.

“Oh, my God. It’s disgusting in here! Like a teenaged boy’s room. Gross.” She called back to Claire, whose laughter rung out from the hallway. Kaia carefully picked her way across the floor to the wardrobe on the other side of the room. “I don’t even remember eating MacDonald’s here, so either he ordered take-out without me, or this is pre-me. Judging from the green fur it’s growing, I’d say it’s pre-me.” She yanked open the wardrobe door and gingerly moved some of the junk collected at the bottom, looking for a bag.

“Ha ha!” Claire shouted gleefully. “Got it!” Kaia groaned.

“So I fought my way across this battlefield for nothing?” She jumped back to the door, grimacing, and shut the door behind her. Claire just laughed.

“Come on, let’s get you packed.”

~~~

Half an hour later, they were waiting in the living room, lounging on the couches. Kaia was getting agitated, tugging and twirling her hair, but Claire appeared relatively calm, flicking through the limited channels on Dean’s TV.

“You got any nachos?” She asked, glancing back at the kitchen. Kaia shrugged and Claire dropped the remote and rummaged through the cupboards. Kaia had just started to say something when the door knocked and Claire phone started ringing. “Odd.” She muttered, picking up her phone.

“Who is it?” Kaia whispered, getting up and walking to the door. There was a peephole in the middle that she could use to see whoever was knocking. She stopped short when Claire answered her phone and said, “Jody?”

Kaia turned back and grabbed her duffel. She didn’t dare check who was at the door, but she knew it wouldn’t be Jody. The timing of the phone call and the knocks was too… off. She knew there was a fire escape through Dean’s window next to his wardrobe and backed up towards it. Whoever was behind the door knocked again, louder this time. Kaia jumped. Claire started to walk towards the door, but Kaia pulled her back. She wasn’t on the phone anymore.

~~~

Alex was glad the elevators in Lebanon didn’t have any cheesy music. She stood in the centre with a few other people who kept to themselves. In her nurse’s garbs, she didn’t look out of place. Merely like she was coming to visit a friend or come home after a shift. The lift jolted to a stop and the doors slid open. Alex and another couple stepped off and let the doors close behind them. The door next to her was numbered 402, and she counted down until she reached Dean’s door. Outside was spindly man. He was banging on the door and shouting. Alex could see a light shining in the gap between the floor and the door. Two shadows were pacing. She quickly ducked into a doorway and watched the scene unfold.

The man had a short crop of brown hair and still retained his baby face. He didn’t look at all intimidating, in fact, he looked the victim, but Alex didn’t like how viciously he knocked. She made a quick decision and called Claire. She picked up before the first ring was over.

“ _Alex!_ ” She whispered. Alex turned her back on the man and pressed it against the wall.

“Claire, are you alright?”

“ _Where are you?_ ”

“Outside, there’s someone else knocking on your door.”

“ _Oh, no shit._ ”

“Shut up. Can you make it down the fire escape?” Alex hissed. There was a short pause before Claire returned.

“ _Yeah._ ”

“Awesome, I’m going down.” She pushed off from the wall and pressed the elevator call button.

“ _Hey, Alex?_ ”

“Yeah?” She sent a cautionary glance behind her.

“ _Be careful._ ” Claire hung up and Alex shoved her phone in her pocket. The lift arrived and Alex pushed passed the couple getting out of it. Her heart was hammering in her chest. She was alone in the elevator when the door started to slide shut. The man banging on Dean’s door turned and saw her just as the door closed and the lift jolted into action. She tucked a stray piece of her straight, brown hair behind her ear. The lift would be arriving on the ground floor for another few minutes, if it didn’t stop for anyone else, and Alex imagined that taking the stairs would probably be quicker. But she didn’t know where the stairs were, and stairways didn’t have security cameras. They were basically the perfect place for a murder. As she was turning all this over in her mind, Alex was pulling at her phone case, taking it off and replacing it, before the doors glided open and she faced the blank lobby wall. She rushed out, shoving her phone in her slacks, and slammed into the emergency fire exit to the right of the elevators.

Outside, Alex could hear the regular sounds of traffic, plus the creaking sound of someone, hopefully Kaia and Claire, using the fire escape. Two people dropped down next two her, startling her.

“Alex, it’s us.” Claire panted. “This is Kaia.” Kaia wiped one hand on her jeans and glanced at Alex. The other hand was desperately clutching an art folder and had a duffel bag swung over the shoulder. She looked panicked. Her eyes kept darting up to what Alex guessed was Dean’s bedroom window.

“Claire, what the _fuck_ is going on?” Alex hissed. Claire shrugged.

“I… I recognised that man…” Kaia whispered. “That’s Erik, my dad’s best friend since college. They played poker and… other stuff every Tuesday.”

“He hasn’t really grown much since college, then.” Alex remarked, peering around, as if fearing he was going to pop out of the shadows and charge at them. “We’d better get going, he saw me leaving.”

“He was still knocking when we left. We could hear him ‘til we were halfway down, or was that my imagination?” Claire shuddered and kept her gaze at the floor.

“Well, the car should be parked just around this corner, so come on.” Alex started heading off to the end of the alley. Kaia instinctively grabbed Claire’s hand.

“Something’s not right.” She muttered. Claire gave Kaia’s a comforting squeeze before pulling her down after Alex. They kept looking back, waiting for Erik to appear in Dean’s open window and race after them.

~~~

Alex was right, and she was wrong, too. The car was parked around a corner, just not the one next to the alleyway they’d escaped from. Kaia and Claire were still holding hands, and Erik hadn’t shown up, but there was no bustling crowd to hide them, either. Claire tried her hardest to not be distracted by the delicious coolness of Kaia’s fingers interlocked with hers, but the only way she would be able to manage that would be to let go. And she didn’t want to do that. They looked around furiously for a bit of shelter, however, whatever God existed was against them, as Alex’s nurses’ uniform stood out like a sore thumb. Claire cursed and Kaia crept closer to her, until Alex set off running down the street. This time Kaia dragged Claire.

They didn’t stop until they’d reached a building with a tall spire growing from the front with a clock mounted on it. Alex drew a set of car keys from her front pocket and jogged to a red car nearby.

“Ok, so either you’re going to hotwire this car, or you can drive.” Claire said.

“The latter.” Alex muttered, unlocking the car.

“You can drive!” Claire exclaimed. Alex shrugged and slid into the driver’s seat, grinning slightly. Kaia and Claire climbed into the back, shoving Kaia’s things into the foot well.

“Are you two using the buddy system now?” Alex questioned, rising an eyebrow in her rear-view mirror.

“Just drive.” Claire growled, gripping Kaia’s hand tighter. Kaia responded in kind. Alex shot off down the road, swerving to avoid cars and red lights. “Jesus, did you even pass your test?!”

“Er, not technically, no.”

“Shit, don’t kill that person! In fact, try not to kill anyone.” Claire shouted, clutching the seat in front of her with one hand.

“Patience should be waiting for us.” Alex swerved. Kaia thought she was speaking in riddles until she realized Patience was a person. Claire nodded.

“Donna?” She asked. Alex grunted and forced the steering wheel left, pushing Claire onto Kaia, who groaned.

“Donna’s got some business in her hometown, something about someone going missing? Also, news, she’s got a boyfriend now! Also called Doug, but still. This one’s nice.”

In no time, they were on the highway, speeding toward Sioux Falls. Kaia stared out her window as the scenery zipped by in a blur of yellow fields and grey clouds, trying to fight flashbacks to her past with Erik.

Tuesday nights consisting of mainly of drinking, poker and a lot of touching. Bruises on her thighs and arms the next day. The awful dresses and makeup her dad made her wear. Erik coming up to her room when he thought she was sleeping… God, Kaia couldn’t bear it. She forced the thoughts away and focused on Claire’s hand in hers instead.

Alex had slowed down to a reasonable pace and Claire kept looking behind them to check for police cars and Erik, although they didn’t know what his car looked like. Within an hour, Alex turned off at an exit and stopped driving like a madman. The streets weren’t quiet, but they got quieter the further from the main town centre they got. They didn’t go through suburbs, but drove back lanes through countryside until they reached the edge of a forest. A dirt road wound between the trees and Kaia watched with fascination and awe as the road lead to a cabin.

The cabin looked cozy, as it had lights and a van parked out front and didn’t remind Kaia of any horror movies she’d seen. When they walked in, the smell of freshly baked bread filled her lungs, and her stomach rumbled. A tall lady with short brown hair wearing a flannel shirt and a pair of jeans rushed over to Alex and Claire and gave them both a hug. Then she stood in front of Kaia.

“You must be Kaia.” She gripped Kaia’s upper arm and squeezed gently. “Dean’s told me so much about you.” She brought Kaia in for an embrace, surprising her. “Oh, I’ll take these. Claire, do you want to show her to your old room? You can both sleep there tonight.” She took Kaia duffel and went on ahead before doubling back. “Oh, God, I didn’t even tell you my name! I’m Jody, it’s so nice to finally meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: yourlocalmixedracedbisexual, aestheticforthefandom.


	7. Midnight Talk and a Plan in Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaia meets Patience and they have a heart to heart. Jack, Sam, Dean and Cas try to rescue Mary.

Patience was studying in her room when she heard the door open downstairs. Then footsteps. Then Jody saying something, but it was muffled. Alex appeared in her doorway.

“Still studying?”

“Yeah, well, I’ve got S.A.Ts, haven’t I?” Patience smirked. Alex had rolled up the sleeves of her nurse’s scrubs, which was about as relaxed as she could muster after a double shift at the hospital. She looked tired, but pleased, as if driving halfway across America and back in one evening was all in a day’s work.

“Patience, you’ve been studying for these all afternoon. It’s 9 already. C’mon, have a break.” She strolled in and folded her arms, leaning against Patience’s desk. Patience shrugged and twirled her pen in her hand. “Besides, we have guests. Well, a guest. Come on.” Alex patted her shoulder and left.

“Gee, wonderful! A guest.” Patience muttered sarcastically, dropping her pen and heading down the flight of wooden stairs leading to the main hall. The fresh aroma of Jody’s bread drifted from the kitchen, but Patience could hear voices from the living room. Jody was sat in her armchair and Claire and another girl who must have Kaia were sat on the sofa. Kaia is not what Patience had expected. She was wearing a scruffy grey jacket with tears at the sleeves and a pair of ripped black skinny jeans. She kept tucking a strand of curly brown hair behind her ear, which had a piercing but no earring. On her lap was a light brown duffel bag and at her feet was a large art folder. There was an untouched plate of cookies on the coffee table opposite the TV. Claire was telling Jody something about Dean and a man called Erik when Jody spotted Patience lurking in the doorway.

“Ah, Patience.” She said. All eyes turned to Patience, who waved. “Kaia, this is Patience.”

“Hi.” She glanced up at Patience and Patience nodded. Claire reached over and grabbed a cookie.

“Oh, look how time flies. I’ll get the bread.” Jody peeked at her phone and got out of her chair. “Dinner will be in half an hour, Patience can you set the table in about fifteen minutes?”

“Yeah, sure.” She moved further into the room, taking Jody’s place in the armchair as Jody herself left. She turned to Kaia. “So, you’re Kaia?”

“Yeah, and you’re Patience?” She asked. Patience nodded. An awkward silence filled room. Claire leaned forward to get another cookie an offered one to each of them. Patience declined while Kaia took one and begun nibbling it.

“So, Patience, how’s volleyball practice going?” Claire leaned back and bite a chunk out of her cookie.

“Actually, I stopped going to after-school practice cos of S.A.T.s.” Patience responded, getting a bit more comfortable. “I still go at lunch and to matches, so…”

“You do volleyball? I always wanted to do volleyball. Was never any good, though.” Kaia said, dusting cookie crumbs from one of her hands. “Also, I was never allowed.” She shrugged. Claire took her hand and squeezed it gently. Before Patience could wonder too much about this interaction, she was called into the kitchen to lay the table.

Within the next half an hour, all the residents of Jody’s cosy cabin were settled around the table, passing around bowls of mash and baskets of bread rolls. Patience noticed that, despite how skinny she was, Kaia didn’t really eat much. Jody spotted this too, and spent a fair amount of time trying to convincing her to have some more helpings, which she refused. Jokes were told, Alex mentioned the boy who’d come in with a broken nose from being slammed headfirst into a wall whilst drunk, again, and Claire laughed so hard she choked on a pea. She and Kaia offered to clear up after dinner because they had nothing better to do. Patience went back to her room to concentrate on studying, them S.A.Ts weren’t going to revise for themselves.

Claire could hear Patience’s music in the kitchen, but with Kaia drying up, she wasn’t too focused on it.

“So, I’m assuming you have pyjamas, right?” She asked.

“Yeah, last night was the exception.” Kaia chuckled, stacking dry plates. “Where do these go?”

“Oh, in here.” Claire opened the door to a cupboard and Kaia slipped them in.

“What about you? You didn’t have a chance to pack anything.” Kaia said, suddenly feeling guilty about dragging Claire to Dean’s apartment instead of collecting her things from Claire’s place.

“No, it’s fine. I’ve still got half my stuff here. For emergencies.” She grinned lazily at Kaia, who giggled. “You’re pretty when you smile.” She whispered.

“Huh?” Kaia turned to face her from where she was stood. She was reaching up on her tip-toes to put a glass back and her t-shirt rode up so Claire could see a tiny stretch of skin.

“Nothing, just…Nothing.” She responded, returning to the washing up. As she rinsed the last fork, Kaia settled back on her heels, causing her hair to bounce a bit _. I should not be noticing these things!_ Claire thought, drying her hands and looking away quickly. She hung the towel back on the hook and glanced around the kitchen, awkwardly looking for anything else to do. Jody had cleared the dips and dishes away earlier, leaving Claire with nothing to except shove her hands in her back pockets awkwardly. Eventually, after Kaia had finished, she said, “What do you wanna do now?”

“I’ve got some artwork to finish off.” Kaia replied, throwing her towel onto the counter top.

“We could go back up to my room? Jody’s watching some chick-flick in the other room, so...” Claire suggested. Kaia nodded and followed her up.

Claire’s room in Jody’s cabin was the complete opposite of her room in Cas’s home. It was bigger and brighter, with white and light purple walls and a fluffy white rug under her bed. There were no pictures on the wall and the room didn’t quite strike Kaia as… Claire. A soft breeze fluttered the purple curtains on the right wall and Kaia’s bag was already at the foot of the bed. Claire settled on the bed and flung her shoes into the corner, tugging her laptop out of her bag. Kaia pulled her artwork out of her folder, sat on the floor and began work on a biro sketch of a man holding a baby. Claire could hear the scratching sound of pen on paper, but ignored it and focused on the work in front of her. Her fingers whizzed across the keyboard as she completed a coding assignment for school. Slowly, the light outside dimed and she got up to turn her main light on, but she noticed Kaia had stopped drawing. She was tightly curled in a ball at the foot of Claires’ bed, so instead Claire closed the door and woke her up gently.

“Hey, you need to wake up.” She whispered, shaking her shoulder. “Come on, we need to get you to bed.” Kaia groaned and rubbed her eyes groggily. Claire removed her laptop from her bed and threw it on the rug, tugging back her covers. She pulled her pyjamas from her closet and got changed. When she glanced at Kaia, she was dressed in a pair of shorts and a top. Claire must have been staring because Kaia started trying to lengthen the shorts. “I’m… I’m going to the bathroom.” She rushed out of the room and ran to the bathroom, locking the door behind her. _Smooth, Claire. Real smooth._ She let out a breath and begun scrubbing off her eyeliner and brushing her teeth. A yawn escaped her mouth as she set her toothbrush down and unlocked the door. Kaia was already snuggled underneath the covers when she got back, so she slipped under her covers and began to sink into her own exhaustion when her phone buzzed. She sighed and saw the text from Cas, choosing to ignore it until morning.

~~~

It was midday by the time their plan was properly in action. Sam peered through his binoculars at the warehouse while Dean loudly crunched on a family sized bag of Doritos. Eventually, Sam caved.

“Dude, put those away. You’re getting orange powder everywhere.” He snapped, whacking the bag. Dean ignored him, straightened it out and drank the last crumbs from the bottom. In the rear view mirror, Sam could see Jack staring out of the window as Cas screwed his nose in disgust at Dean. “Hey, Jack. We’ll get her back. Don’t worry.” He reached over and gently squeezed Jack’s knee. “Come on, let’s get you ready.” He swung his door open and went to unlock the boot, Jack following him. Cas and Dean were still in Sam’s sights, he was tall enough to peer over the lid of the boot when it was open, and he could see them doing that staring thing they do. _God, they need to get it together._ Sam chuckled distractedly.

“What?” Jack asked, oblivious to the staring contest inside the car. Sam just shakes his head and grabbed a shotgun.

“Right, I’ll be over in that tree, and you just walk up to the main entrance. In theory, two guys will come out. Shoot them.” Sam handed Jack a small pistol. When the others come out, I will cover you and Dean and Cas will, hopefully, slip inside and get back Mary. You ready?” Jack nodded, taking the gun. Sam clapped him on the back and hid behind the tree, watching Jack. By this time, Dean and Cas had got out of the Impala and were stood waiting for Sam’s signal. Sam could see two guys coming out of the warehouse and Jack raise his hands in surrender. When they got close enough, he whipped the pistol out and shot them both dead. More men rushed out of the building and Sam shot at them frantically. They still poured out the building and Jack picked off a few himself. Sam raised his hand as a gesture for Dean and Cas to head in through the back just as Jack took off towards him and the other starting shooting at him. He ducked behind the tree and reloaded. Jack joined him after a couple of minutes.

“What now? Keep them occupied?” Jack fidgeted, peering nervously at the mob heading for them. Sam grunted and nodded, swinging around the tree and firing off another few blasts, taking down a few. They were gaining, fast, so Sam and Jack turned and headed back to the Impala, where Dean and Cas were due to meet them with Mary. Alive, if possible. Sam slid into the drivers’ seat and gunned the engine, forcing the car to swivel and tearing down the dirt road which lead to the back of the warehouse. A door opened and Cas and Dean fell out, carrying a limp and unconscious Mary between them. Dean opened the back door and clambered in, pulling Mary and Cas in behind him. Sam was already racing down the road before Cas had closed the door, sighing in relief and thankful that they’d got Mary.

~~~

Kaia panicked when she woke up. Her first thought was, _I’m not alone in this bed_. He second was, _Where am I_? As her body started catching up with her brain, she glanced sideways, fearful of what she might find. Flashbacks of Erik flicked through her mind, but she forced them away with more resolve than she actually had. Besides her, sleeping peacefully, was Claire. She was curled up on her side, facing Kaia. All her makeup was gone, and she looked… relaxed. Kaia realised she was out of breath from whatever nightmare her brain had cooked up, and swung her legs out of the bed. The fluffy rug embraced her feet and she sighed, before yawning and rubbing her eyes. She shuffled to the door, then to the top of the stairs and made her way into the kitchen for a glass of water.

As Kaia was filling the glass, she felt a presence behind her and whipped around to find Patience standing in the doorway, wearing flannel pyjamas. Patience shuffled forward and sat at the table.

“Nightmares?” She asked. Kaia turned the tap of and sat opposite her, nodding. “Well, water isn’t going to help. Trust me.” Patience stood and grabbed a pan, filling it with milk and adding chocolate powder. Kaia looked on, confused.

“Are you… making me hot chocolate?” She whispered. Patience turned back to glance at her and hummed in agreement. When the milk was warm, she filled a mug and topped it up with cold milk so it wasn’t too hot to drink. She placed the mug in front of Kaia and removed the glass, sipping from it. “Why?”

“Because, Kaia. You’re a human being last I checked, and you might not think it, but you deserve it. But I’ll let Claire explain that to you.” Patience explained, heading towards the door. “Take that up to Claires’ room and drink it in bed, though, ‘cause she can sense if you leave during the night.” She retreated up the stairs to her own room. Kaia stayed seated for a few minutes, absorbing the warmth from her hot chocolate, before deciding to go back to bed.

Claire was still asleep, although she had changed position and had a worried frown creasing her forehead, and Kaia slipped in beside her. Once she finished, she slid further into under the covers and into an easy, dreamless sleep, one of the first she’d had since before her mum died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short! Also, sorry for the wait... yeah. Please leave kudos and comments, they're always appreciated!


	8. The Aftermath and the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Cas have an argument and Kaia talks about her past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: talk of past abuse, rape and internalized homophobia.  
> Also, sorry for not posting in a while, I had personal shit going on.

When they got back to the motel, Mary was still unconscious, so Dean carried her back to his room. Sam pulled back the covers and Dean gently laid her down, tugging off her combat boots before turning back to the others.

“Well, now I’ve got no place to sleep.” He whispered.

“Hey, Jack, let’s go check out that… thing… that we wanted to check out,” Sam said, grabbing Jack by the arm and dragging him out. Cas frowned after them and Dean sighed, turning to Cas. They were so close their noses nearly touched and Cas’ breath fanned across Dean’s face when he said, “You can share a room with me.”

“Thanks, buddy.” Dean’s voice caught on ‘buddy’, but he pushed through and patted Cas on the arm before picking up a few bits and following Cas to his room. Inside was a double bed and a door leading to the bathroom.

“Sorry, there’s only one bed.” Cas apologized. Dean shrugged and walked over to the tidier side. He didn’t know whether to get changed in the bathroom, but they’re best friends and Cas had already got his back turned and was taking off his coat, so Dean followed. He tried to not stare at the way Cas’ muscles rippled beneath his tanned skin or the way his nightshirt hugged his torso. Fighting a blush, Dean swapped his flannel for an old Led Zeppelin tee and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. “Sam said we were going to meet in his room for takeout, right?”

“Yeah, he said he’d order Chinese when we got there,” Dean responded, still avoiding eye contact. He cleared his throat and shoved his feet in his shoes, before following Cas to Sam’s room, where Jack was already phoning the local Chinese place. Sam was taking down all the photos, newspaper clippings and string joining the two together off his wall and stuffing them unceremoniously in a cardboard box.

“What d’you say we have a bonfire tonight?” He asked once Jack had ended the call. “We can all go back to Cas’ place and have it in his back yard.”

“Or the woods at the edge of town,” Dean suggested, sitting on the end of Sam’s bed. Sam nodded, but Jack shook his head.

“I think we should do it at our house, there’s a chance the woods could set on fire by accident.” He explained. Cas immediately agreed, so they settled on burning the evidence in his back yard. “Also, the food should be here in five minutes, they just texted me.”

“Awesome!” Dean clapped his hands and leaned back on the bed, kicking off his shoes. Sam closed the box and set it next to his duffel as Jack’s phone pinged. He checked the text, then announced the delivery guy was there.

“I’ll go with you,” Cas offered, then they were out the door, greeting the food. Sam crossed the room and sat next to Dean.

“So…” He starts. Dean glances at him before grabbing the remote and switching on the TV. “What’s going on with you?”

“What d’you mean?” Dean cocked an eyebrow and giving him a sidelong glare. “We spoke literally fifteen minutes ago.”

“But a lot could have happened within that time frame.” Sam retorted, leaning back on his hands. Dean snorted and folded his arms across his chest.

“We got changed and came straight here.” He replied, shrugging and looking away.

“So, no confessions?”

“What’s there to confess?” Dean glanced back up at Sam, who was staring at him wide-eyed and shocked. “Oh, actually, yes. I’ll be right back.” He stood up and rushed to the door, opening it to face Cas and Jack, who were struggling with the handle. Cas cocked his head at him as he roughly pushed past them before disappearing into his own room. The door closed softly behind him and he glanced over to Mary’s bed to find her sitting up and rubbing her head.

“Dean? What happened?” She asked, yawning and getting to her feet. Dean ran forward and enveloped her in a hug, causing her to stumble a little. “Dean?”

“You’re ok. What do you remember?” He questioned, pulling away and holding her by the shoulders.

“I’m mean, they took me about a month, two months ago? Anyway, the day you came, they were planning on moving. I’d been holding out hope you’d find me there, but I lost it when they said they were going to move. The day started out normal, waking up chained, people watching chained, eavesdropping chained. They didn’t touch me that day. Then they left, and I passed out again. I don’t know why.” She responded, looking up at Dean. He nodded, before pulling her into another hug. She’s strong, he knows that, but she’s also his mother. The woman who kissed scrapes and sang him lullabies at night. The one who was the glue holding their little family unit together. The one who brought him into this world, and goddammit, he wasn’t ready for her to be taken out of it. Not today. He took a deep breath, then pulled away and turned to his duffel so she couldn’t see the silent tears running down his face. When he found what he was looking for, Sam’s birthday gift, he roughly swiped his face and sniffed before facing her again.

“Let’s go have dinner.” He opened the door for her and led her to Sam’s room. Inside, everyone was gathered around the circular table in the corner, cramming themselves with Chinese. He threw Sam’s gift at him, calling out a “Head’s up, Sammy.”

“What’s this for?” Sam asked as he caught the box. He turned it over in his hands, examining it.

“Open it and find out,” Dean responded. Sam cracked the lid open and a gasp escaped his mouth. “Happy belated birthday, Sammy.” Sam stood and Dean pulled him down into a hug.

“Thanks, Dean.” He turned to show his gift – the watch Dean had bought with Kaia – then carefully took it out and strapped it on his wrist. Dean fell into a nearby chair and dove into a carton of food as Mary hugged Sam.

“Also, I’m opening another mechanic's downtown,” Dean announced. Sam looked like he was about to reply, but his phone rang and he disappeared into the bathroom to answer it.

“Congratulations, Dean,” Cas said sincerely. Jack nodded, his mouth full of noodles. Mary laughed and grabbed a pair of chopsticks, digging into the food. It was quiet, the only sound the muffled voices of Sam in the bathroom. After a few minutes, he reappeared and sat down.

“What was the phone call?” Mary asked. Sam glanced around.

“Oh, nothing. They’re just transferring me. Opening a new office, want me to stay and work there permanently. Providing a house and everything.” He leaned back in his chair, grabbing a few prawn crackers.

“And? Where is it?” Jack questioned impatiently. Sam looked at him as if he’d just realized he’d forgotten to divulge this information.

“Lawrence, Kansas!” He smiled.

~~~

Claire woke up and immediately noticed the empty mug on Kaia’s nightstand. Kaia herself was still asleep, curled up in a ball, hugging her knees to her chest. Her hair had fallen over her face during the night, and Claire had the ridiculous urge to brush it behind her ear. Fortunately, before she could, Jody came and knocked on her door softly, then announced breakfast was ready and it was nearing ten o’clock. Claire gently shook Kaia shoulder until she was awake, then they got up and went downstairs. The day didn’t really vary that much from a normal weekend, save for the increased and altered company, and the morning merely passed Claire by quickly until it was just Kaia and she sat on her bed again.

“Claire, can I tell you something?” Kaia asked quietly. Claire nodded, dropping her laptop to her nightstand and sitting up. Kaia moved so she was sat across from her. “Well, you’re probably wondering who Erik is.”

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, ok?” Claire, cut in, reaching out and touching Kaia’s knee. Kaia nodded and exhaled, focusing on her hands.

“Right, well, Erik used to be a friend of my dad’s. They met in college, and have been practically inseparable since. Double-wedding kind of inseparable.

“So, when my mom died, Erik was who my dad turned to. I was only four, he couldn’t turn to me. He and Erik went out drinking a lot, often sending me to a friends’ house after school or bringing the drinks home. It was fine, for the first few years, then as I got older and looked more like a… younger version of my mom, I guess, my dad started drinking more. Erik stayed over more often. I don’t know what happened to his wife, I wouldn’t be surprised if she left him permanently.

“Anyway…” She sniffed, wiping at her eyes. “Anyway, when I was about 10, my dad got so drunk he… he forgot my mum was dead and had a breakdown over why she was suddenly a fifth grader. After that, it got worse. Whether he was drunk or, on the rare occasion, sober, he couldn’t look at me the same. He always saw her. I hated it. Until he found a different way to express his… confusion. I stopped hating it and started fearing it. I got changed in a toilet stall for PE, I became a master at using makeup to hide bruises, I cut myself off from my friends, starting staying home more, eating less. I started thinking he was right.

“One day, Erik was there, and my dad completely forgot. He started…” She paused to swallow, “on me, and he witnessed it. I thought my lucky day had come. I thought he was going to ring the police, and I would be safe. I should have known better. He was drunk, he joined in. It went like this for another few years until my dad, or Erik realised I could be used for so much more. They started dolling me up and… and every morning I’d wake up next to a different man… and my screams from the night before will still be echoing in my mind.” Kaia’s voice cracked, and she brought a hand up to wipe at her tears fruitlessly. Claire shuffled forward and wrapped her in a warm hug, letting her cry freely into her shoulder. She muttered soothing words into her hair as she stroked it and Kaia sobbed. She cried for the childhood she missed out on, the trauma she suffered and the nightmares she gets as a result. She cried and she didn’t stop crying until she ran out of tears and Claire was lifting her up and handing her a glass of water from who-knows-where. She cried until the sun fell behind the horizon and Jody was calling them down for dinner.

“Listen, Kaia, you’ve gotta tell someone else. Dean, Jody, even Cas.” Claire gently tilted her chin to face her. “You can’t keep this pent up inside you.” Kaia pulled back and sniffed, staring guiltily at her hands.

“I didn’t even tell you the worst part.” She whispered. “I killed him. It was an accident. It was a normal day, people hadn’t started to arrive and there were empty beer bottles everywhere. My dad… he was yelling at me for not being ready, and he started shoving me so… I shoved him back. Not hard, but he slipped on a stray bottle and hit his head on the countertop. He didn’t get up, and I ran upstairs and packed a bag and left before Erik came. I was homeless for a few days until I found Dean. You know the rest.” She shrugged and gave Claire a watery smile. Claire looked up at her and lifted her arms for a hug, and Kaia crawled over, nestling her head beneath Claire’s.

“You’re gonna be okay.”

~~~

“Hold on, Kansas?” Dean exclaimed. Cas glanced at him and tilted his head to one side, squinting.

“Yes, Dean. Sam did say Kansas.” He remarked sarcastically. Sam nearly choked on his food.

“When are you moving?” Mary asked. Sam shrugged.

“Probably sometime in the next month. I’ve bought a flat near your place.” He responded, nodding at Dean. “The apartment block over, I think.” Dean hummed and focused on his food again, but Cas didn’t miss his small smile. He was just glad that they could finally put this all behind them and move on. Metaphorically retire from this dead weight. Dinner went by peacefully after that, and soon they were leaving for their own rooms. Cas walked with Dean and Mary until they reached his room, then Dean bid his goodnights and followed him in.

Again, they were presented with the problem of the only bed. Dean flushed deep red, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing at Cas, who only squinted. He pulled back the covers and perched on the edge of the bed, looking at Dean expectedly. Dean chuckled nervously as Cas toed off his shoes and stuffed his socks in them. It was a warm night and Cas was wearing thick fleecy pyjamas, so he started taking his top off.

“Are you going to join me, Dean?” Cas asked. All the blood rushed to Dean’s face, Cas had never been one to know of innuendoes and such.

“Yeah, I mean, we’re all straight here, right? No gays to worry about…” He rambled, strolling up the side of the bed. Cas felt a jolt off irritation flow through his body as he tossed aside his shirt.

“Why do you keep going on about not being gay? Is it such a bad thing that you want to flush out any questioning people before they become your friend? Are you that big of a homophobe?” Cas snapped, grinding his teeth. Dean was behind him now, so he couldn’t see him visibly flinch.

“Maybe I am.” He defended. “Maybe I should sleep in the chair, then.”

“Fine.” Cas slid under the covers as Dean yanked a pillow and strode over to the armchair in the corner. He pulled off his shoes and curled up in a ball, fluffing the pillow beneath his head before turning away from Cas. After staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, Cas flicked off the light and chose to stare at the ceiling in the dark until an uneasy sleep washed over him.

~~~

Cas woke up angry and confused, his covers bunched up at the end of the bed. Memories from the night before flashed through his mind and he shot a glare at the chair Dean was sleeping in to find it empty. He shut his eyes and sat up, blindly fumbling for a pair of boxers and a towel, as the door to the bathroom opened and Dean stepped out. Cas pinned a glare on him and he froze in the doorway, clearly unsure what to do.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to take a shower.” Cas ground out. This seemed to shake Dean out of his trance, and he nodded dumbly, shuffling to his duffel bag. The bathroom was still steaming from Deans’ shower and Cas swiped a hand at the mirror, leaving a streak clear in which he could see himself. Admittedly, he hadn’t slept well, and it showed on his face. Dark bags were nestled beneath his eyes, which kept trying to close. The hot water thankfully woke him up more and allowed him to think about his conversation with Dean the previous night. _He’s homophobic._ He thought. _Honestly, I’m not surprised. He’s always staring at queer couples in the street. He’s either homophobic or very closeted. I don’t think it’s the latter, considering what he told me last night._ Cas shut the water off and dried himself, tugging on his boxers. He could already feel his hair drying as he shook out some water droplets and exited the bathroom in search of his clothes.

“Hey, Cas, about last night-”

“Save it, Dean. I don’t want to hear it.” Cas interrupted. He ignored the tense atmosphere as he pulled on his trench coat and packed his bag. Dean had left without a word and Cas flicked off the lights and locked the door, making his way to reception to hand in the key. They had decided to get back to Kansas as quickly as possible, so the harsh sun had barely been given a chance to fully spring over the horizon in all its annoying glory. Cas bumped into Sam outside reception, as he was driving back to New York that day.

“Hey, man, you alright?” Sam caught his arm and spun him around.

“Your brother’s a dick,” Cas responded, twisting his arm out of Sam’s grip and leaving him standing in the doorway, confused. He slammed the key on the desk and the receptionist jumped a little, causing his feet to fall from their propped position.

“C-can I help you, sir?” He asked.

“I’d like to return this key.”

“Ok, thanks.” He grabbed the key and hung it on a hook behind him after checking the number etched into the side. “This is a pre-paid key, you don’t need to pay.” Cas nodded and left. He caught sight of Mary leaving her room and Jack clambering into the backseat of the Impala. Dean was already waiting in the front seat, behind the wheel, and Cas made a split-second decision to join Jack in the back before Mary reached them. While Jack frowned at him, Dean didn’t say anything, just gripping the wheel tighter.

“Good morning!” Mary greeted, sliding onto the bench next to Dean, seemingly unaware of the tension. However, the way she glanced curiously between Cas and Dean told the former she knew something was up.

Cas spent the entire time staring out the window, ignoring the conversation between Mary and Jack whilst Dean drove way above the speed limit until lunch. Here, he pulled over into a service station and handed some money to Jack to get four ‘of the cheapest sandwiches and a slice of pie’. As Jack scrambled out of the car, he turned expectantly to Cas as if urging him to come with him. Cas scowled, but opened his door anyway. Jack led him through the entrance to a small tourist trap shop selling mismatched brick-a-brack. Cas was certain they weren’t going to find food there, but Jack seemed to be looking around like they were.

“Do you want to tell me what’s up?” He didn’t take his eyes off the trinket he was examining.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Cas sighed, casually picking up a porcelain figure off the shelf he was leaning against and turning it over in his hands. Jack spared him a glance before moving onto the next aisle, shrugging. It wasn’t long before they left the shop and found a seven-eleven with a fridge full of sandwiches. Cas tasked Jack with choosing the sandwiches and left to find Dean’s pie. He purposefully chose the smallest slice of apple pie, Dean’s least favourite, he preferred cherry (apple’s just so _mainstream_ , cherry’s much cooler) and waited for Jack by the counter. It was only a few minutes later when Jack joined him, carrying four sandwiches. If he noticed the pie, he didn’t say anything. The queue to pay was short, and in what felt like no time at all, Jack and Cas were heading back to the Impala, carrying a bag of food. Cas scowled as he slammed his door shut unnecessarily hard. As expected, they drove on through the rest of the day before Dean’s phone lit up with a call from Jody.

“ _Hey, Dean!_ ” She greeted. “ _So, things happened a few days ago and Kaia and Claire ended up spending the night here. At my place. In Sioux Falls._ ” Dean swerved to the side of the highway so fast he almost crashed.

“Are they alright?” He asked. Cas frowned. _Are who alright?_ He thought. He couldn’t hear Jody’s voice as it crackled through the speaker.

“ _Yes, they’re fine. I was wondering when you’d be back to pick them up._ ” She responded.

 _“Shit!”_ Dean hissed, hitting the steering wheel. “We don’t get back to Lawrence ‘til tomorrow morning. Tell them I’ll pick them up tomorrow evening, yeah?” Jody hummed and Dean hung up and threw his phone on the bench beside him. “That was Jody. Kaia and Claire spent the night at her place. I’ll be picking them up tomorrow.” He pulled out of the lay-by and shot down the road, letting the tense atmosphere be partially drowned out by the music from the radio.


End file.
